Speaker 1: She's a Hollywood Western. She's Jack Kerouac, but in a
Speaker 1: n ap dress with braids.
Speaker 2: She is one of the most important American children's authors
Speaker 2: of the twentieth century.
Speaker 1: She's the basis for a television show still watched around
Speaker 1: the world. I literally wake up in the middle of
Speaker 1: the night and go, somebody somewhere is watching Little as
Speaker 1: the Brow.
Speaker 2: Women will come up to me, cry and saying, my
Speaker 2: childhood was miserable. In Little House in the Prairie was
Speaker 2: my escape.
Speaker 1: She's been called a hero, a racist, a feminist, and
Speaker 1: a propagandist.
Speaker 3: Consider a Native child in their classroom reading it aloud,
Speaker 3: and they come to that sentence, the only good Indian
Speaker 3: is a dead Indian.
Speaker 1: She is Laura Ingles Wilder. Did you know she was
Speaker 1: a real person. In the nineteen thirties, Laura Ingles Wylder
Speaker 1: wrote the nine Little House on the Prairie books based
Speaker 1: on her childhood on the American Frontier Way or another.
Speaker 1: She's been with us ever since. Oh I love I
Speaker 1: loved that.
Speaker 2: I loved Little House on the Prairie.
Speaker 1: It's just a perfect book. I've loved Laura for as
Speaker 1: long as I can remember. As a kid, I used
Speaker 1: to map out her travels on my parents Atlas, and
Speaker 1: I'm not alone. Every summer, thousands of people from around
Speaker 1: the world pilgrimage to her little houses in tiny towns
Speaker 1: from the middle of the country. Now I'm going too.
Speaker 1: We're literally on the prairie. I went in search of Laura,
Speaker 1: the real Laura. Who is this person I love so much?
Speaker 1: Should I love her? The story of Laura is just
Speaker 1: as complicated as the story of America, because she is
Speaker 1: America for better and worse.
Speaker 2: So if we pretend the past was not as controversial
Speaker 2: and difficult and racist as it was, then how are
Speaker 2: we going to deal with the racist issues were grappling
Speaker 2: with today in.
Speaker 1: A country currently at odds with itself and its history.
Speaker 1: Could there be a better time for this exploration? There's
Speaker 1: never been a better time than now. I'm Glennys McNichol,
Speaker 1: and this is Wilder. Listen to Wilder on the iHeartRadio app,
Speaker 1: Apple Podcasts, or wherever you get your podcasts.